What We Know Is a Secret
by AnchoredDreams
Summary: Callie knows there must be a reason. She and her twin sister, Alison, have these books by fate, perhaps. Trying to do little to change the plot though is difficult when you become emotionally attached to the characters, and suddenly not only is it their life; it's yours. It's all very secretive, changing the outcome of this is very tricky business. But maybe, it must be done.
1. Chapter 1

"_We touch other people's lives simply by existing." –JK Rowling_

This is completely crazy, I know it is. That's why I'm going to tell you about it. The craziest of things tend to be interesting.

You will have your own opinion of this I must assume. It is your choice whether you want to believe what happened and what could have happened. I do promise though, I am telling you this tale with the most sincere honesty.

It all started the summer after Alison and I turned eleven. A peculiar man arrived at our doorstep. He knocked thrice at the door. I wasn't sure if I should open it as my dad wasn't home. But I felt the need to so I let him in, hoping for the best.

The man stood at least half as tall as myself, an eleven year old girl, and had on flowing pajama sort attire on. As he walked in, he dusted himself off and looked up to the faces of my sister and me.

"I would assume the two of you to be Calista and Alison Carraway?"

Alison nodded her head as I stepped forward. "I am Callie, yes. And this is Alison."

"Is your father around?" He spun his head the look over our kitchen.

"He's at work currently," Alison said.

"Oh dear," the man said, tapping his fingers together and glancing out the window. "I might as well get along with it without him then. I'll handle your father at a different time. You may want to sit down for this girls."

We sat down at the kitchen table, and I was suddenly very nervous. I've never met this man before and now he's going to be telling me shocking news? My stomach twisted around, anticipating the moment he told us to get it over with. He stood slightly above our heads. "You see, my name is Professor Flitwick. And I teach at a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now this may seem unbelievable but it is very true. Therefore, the two of you are witches. I can show you some magic myself, if I must." He pulled out a long, intricately decorated stick, and twirled it around his tiny hand.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out two envelopes and handed one to each of us. I looked at mine, on the back in emerald green ink was my name in brilliant calligraphy. I turned it over and the Hogwarts crest was stamped over top. I ran my finger over it, feeling the bumps of it.

I looked over to Alison, who was still stuck on her letter shocked. She hadn't opened her's either. She eventually looked up to me. And we shared the same look.

We weren't at a loss for words because the thought of being witches was absolutely absurd. We were shocked because we've heard of Hogwarts several times written in seven books. The first two words of all these book's titles were 'Harry Potter.' Now, it was real.

Footsteps came outside, and the door opened with my father looking at the two of us, and this Charms Professor warily.

He sighed. "Callie, Alison, who is this man?"

Now I must admit, we have got ourselves into many sticky situations before. Such as the time we invited a hobo inside and he squirted my dad in the eye with cooking spray and ran away with boxes of cereal. But this was certainly not one of those times.

"Ah!" Professor Flitwick said, approaching my dad, who was more than half his height, and giving his hand a shake. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Filius Flitwick, and as I was telling your daughters, I teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your daughters are, in fact, witches.

"Now, I understand this is a lot to take in. But I promise it's the truth. And Hogwarts is the best school for magic there is around."

My dad was gaping at him. "How do I—how do—"

"How do you know I'm telling the truth?" Professor Flitwick asked, most likely expecting the question. He positioned his wand correctly in his hand and with a fluid swish-and-flick motion, levitated the table ten feet into the air. It was nearly touching the ceiling.

My dad was still at a loss for words, looking at the table with his mouth gaping wide open. "I have given your daughters the official letters. Any questions can be answered in there. The start of term begins September first. The train will leave at Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross in London. You must run through, in between nine and ten to get there. It won't hurt a bit."

He looked at our entire family, and seemed appeased with himself despite none of us have really talked. "I hope to see the two of you at the start of term." He then gracefully strode out of our house leaving everyone in the kitchen completely flabbergasted.

I glanced at the letter in my hands again, and gingerly ripped it open. My heart twanged a bit as I broke the crest. I suppose though, that I will get several more after this one. I read the letter over and saw that it was worded precisely as I had expected.

Alison and I looked up to dad at the same moment, and with perfect puppy-dog eyes, asked simultaneously, "Can we go?" It was a twin thing.

Alison and I sat in my bedroom late that night surrounded by all seven books and a notebook.

"Who's year do we think we'll be in?" I asked, daydreaming of Hogwarts like I had all day. "We could be in Harry's year. Or Fred and George's. Or hopefully not Percy's." I was doodling a heart in the margin as Alison flipped through the Prisoner of Azkaban, ignoring my spoken thoughts.

She did answer me though, a little late on the reaction time though. "I have no idea. There's nothing about twin blonde's _anywhere_ in these books. Not even in passing."

"Allie, what—what if we have these books for a reason? What if we're meant to change them?"

"Change them?" she asked, looking to me incredulously, her eyebrows quirked as she possibly questioned my sanity. I have been given this book before.

"Yes!" I said, sitting up from my laying position. "We could save so many people, you know? Think about Cedric and Fred and Remus and Tonks! We could make so much of it better."

"Callie, I don't know if that's a good idea. Sure it could make it better, but it was all part of the plot for something. It all went to something. If we saved too much, the ending could end up being completely different. You know Hermione and the time-turner. Changing the past is quite the tricky business. It would be so much better for us not to meddle."

That disappointed me, because deep down I knew it was true. But I also knew that it's what I wanted to do. But maybe we missed all of this. And maybe this won't happen for years. We don't even know what part of the storyline that we'll be plopped into. We could be anywhere. The fact that we have the books, that we possibly know how the future plays out, could be completely insignificant. Or we could have all of this for the better.

"We need to lay out the rules," Alison said. Which was so her to make rules and make plans that we may or may not follow through with. But I agreed and propped up my notebook in my lap with my pencil and wrote a one.

"No mention of The Books at all," she said, and I scribbled it down.

_Rules for Entering the Magical World_

_No mention of The Books whatsoever. _

_If a character is to die, no tears are to be shed. _

_Try to not severely change the plot so much. _

_Do not treat characters as if they are famous. _

_No torturing unlikable characters. (Such as Snape, Cormac, and Cho Chang. Death Eaters, if we are to come across any, are acceptable)._

_No romantic relations with characters unless you have true feelings for them. _

_Remember, not only are we dropping into the lives of our favorite characters but this is also our life. We are to live accordingly. _

After we finished our official list, we started rambling about our future like we should. We imagined the possibility of attending the Yule Ball and how fabulous Hogsmeade trips would be starting our third year. And so much unknown was to come, despite the fact that we had several books we thought would give us all the answers. But as it turns out, there were things they wouldn't be able to tell us.


	2. Chapter 2

On September first, Alison and I were ready and set to be off to Hogwarts. As our dad dropped us off at the platform, he looked at us sadly. There was going to be no one left at home with him now. Mum died some time ago of sickness and now here we are off to a wizarding school. But I had faith that he would be alright. And there was our neighbor Elizabeth too. She had been friends with Dad since they were in school together. She would help him.

Alison and I had a brief little spat about who should go through the platform first. We eventually decided on going in together. We looked around to make sure no muggles were paying much attention to us and ran towards it. I focused on running my trolley straight and not ramming into Alison before I did the wall. I made it through to the other side, greeted by a steaming, scarlet train. This was when it suddenly felt so real to me.

I had gone to Diagon Alley previously for all our supplies, and each of us also got a pet. Alison got an owl named Max and I got a black cat named Darcy. And I knew I was surrounded by magic then, but now it actually felt like it.

A quick glance to the clock told me that we had exactly fifteen minutes to board the train. Alison and I hurried to haul our stuff on and find a compartment. We were able to find one to ourselves and we sat in it happily. I looked out the window to all the families waving goodbye to their children, and kids loading the train. I tried to identify any of them, but I hadn't the faintest idea for one of them. They all looked like any average people I could encounter in my lifetime; not the significant people of my favorite story.

I looked back to Alison and she said, "Remember. We speak of _nothing_."

"I know, I know," I said. "You don't have to treat me like a child you know. I am the older twin." This was true, by exactly five minutes.

She rolled her eyes and the train set off at exactly eleven. I felt a jolt of excitement in my stomach as the train moved. This was real. This was happening.

The train ride, Alison and I talked about what this year had to come. We were going to learn about magic, we'd visit places we'd only had the chance to dream of previously. I was so excited, I felt like jumping up and down around the compartment, maybe doing a backflip that would result in a neck injury. But then I would have the chance to visit the infirmary.

It was fantastic when the Trolley Lady came by with a cart full of treats. I got a chocolate frog and Alison got some sugar quills. I opened my frog once she had left and we paid her in our new shiny currency. I let the frog jump around in my palms for a bit before I regretfully ripped one of its legs off and chewed it up. The frog continued to squirm around despite its handicap and then I swallowed the rest of him. I could actually feel him wiggle down my throat. Weird.

I flipped the card over to reveal which wizard I got. It was Merlin. I was guessing he was one of the most popular cards. I pocketed it despite that I would most likely lose it before I had the chance to start up a collection.

Soon enough, the train stopped, and a cool voice announced all over the train to leave our things where they were and they would be sent to our dormitories. Alison and I gave each other one last look before standing up and exiting the train.

I was nervous finally. I pondered over if I would get into Gryffindor, like I hoped I would. And what if Alison and I didn't get into the same house? She's a perfect match for a Ravenclaw. I didn't want to be separated from her. I tried to calm myself and followed the voice that was calling for first years. It was Hagrid, who looked precisely as I had imagined him.

As I passed him he was at least thrice my height. I looked up and said a chirpy "Hello!" to him and he nodded and grinned widely at me. Alison and I loaded a boat with two other girls that I still couldn't identify. This also made me nervous. Maybe we missed the entire second Wizarding War. The fact that we have knowledge could be useless. I know Alison wants to try to keep this strictly to the plot, since changing it too much could be disastrous. But, maybe it was some sort of heroic need in me, I felt I could change it for the better. I wanted to help and this knowledge could help. If it was all over, there was nothing I could do but do well if they tested me on it in History of Magic.

The boat ride to the school though was disastrous. The rocking of the boats made me feel like at any given moment I could fall in. I gripped the sides of the boat tightly and hoped that we would be to the other side of the lake.

Once we were, Hagrid lead us up to the school, pointing to different odd things that all of us would 'ooh' or 'ah' for. And then we reached the front doors, which were towering and beautifully ornate. Hagrid knocked on the door and after a brief moment a women opened the doors. Her hair was in a perfect, neat, bun topped on her head and looked over our class. This was Professor McGonagall.

"Come with me," she said sharply, leading us through the halls. Everything in the castle was big and bursting with magic. It was exactly how you would expect a magical school in a castle to look like. It was exactly how you expected Hogwarts to be.

Professor McGonagall stopped us before we entered through the next doors. This must be the Great Hall. She gave us a quick speech about our Houses, which we were soon to be sorted into. How they would be our family, and explained the house points. She left then again for a moment and my stomach churned. Alison and I shared another glance. The both of us were much too nervous to speak.

Professor McGonagall came back for us and led us into the Great Hall. The Great Hall was completely massive, and the night sky ceiling was particularly enchanting. All of the students stood to the side as Professor McGonagall began calling the names. I kept my ears opening, waiting for my own name, and also trying to see if I recognized a name that I wouldn't know the face of.

That chance, came when Professor McGonagall were calling the B last names. "Bell, Katie," she announced, and a short girl next to me walked up to sit on the stool to have the hat placed on her. I couldn't help but to smile in relief as I looked to Alison. This meant that we were in the year about Harry and below the twins. We are just in time. In fact, this was perfect. I could do something fantastic the rest of my life now. I could change something.

Lost in my thought, I didn't notice McGonagall call my sister's name as she left my side to sit on the stool. I watched her intently as I saw her be placed in Ravenclaw, and her go to sit at the table happily with other people our age.

She turned around to look at me and smiled as Professor called out, "Carraway, Calista." It was my turn now. This could determine so much. I sat on the stool and I could even breathe as it was placed on my head. Alison shot me a thumbs up from her table.

Does it really matter though if she's in Ravenclaw and if I was in Gryffindor? I could be my own person without her. I could survive and strive in Gryffindor house.

_Ah, that's exactly the mindset for a Gryffindor. True bravery, Calista. _

Although maybe I should have expected it, I was shocked to hear the hat's voice inside my head. A split second later though, I heard it call out to the entire hall, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I jumped off the stool, and stumbled slightly on my way to Gryffindor Table. As I got closer to the table I noticed two people who could be none other than who I would think it would be: Fred and George. I sat across from the two of them. They smiled at me politely as we watched the rest of the Sorting. Or I watched, and clapped, while the two of them would laugh, jab each other in the ribs, and whisper jokes to another. It was amazing seeing them in action, I have to admit. I would glance to them every few seconds.

Dumbledore gave his words and food popped up out of the table. I loaded my plate with food, as I was starving and barely had much to eat on the train other than my frog. That was not nearly enough.

"Hello," I said to the twins, striking up enough courage to do so. "I'm Callie."

"Hello Callie," the twin on the right said. "I'm George, and this here is Fred."

"Are you sure?" I looked at them questioningly. I'm not sure why I said that. Of course, I knew their habit of switching around to confuse people but I didn't have a reason to assume they were doing it this time.

"What do you mean are we sure?" The one on the left said, looking at the other. "Do you think we don't know who we are?"

"I'm just saying, I bet you have a tendency to pretend you're the other. I think you are Fred," I pointed to the Right" and you are George." I pointed to the other. They both gaped at me.

"How did you know?" They asked this at the same time.

"Well, I am a twin myself. Although, Alison just got sorted into Ravenclaw. And you can tell us apart since her hair is about five inches shorter than mine. But when we were younger we were completely identical. We had fun confusing our mum and dad all the time."

"What is your name again," George leaned towards me to ask.

"I'm Callie, Callie Carraway."

"Hello Callie," Fred said, reaching across the table to shake my hand. "We are Fred and George Weasley."

"Well I've got to say, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And the same to you," Fred said.

After the magnificent meal, and Dumbledore's quick speech, the Gryffindor prefects lead us to Gryffindor Tower, our common room. The Fat Lady let us in, and I was in awe once again at the common room. It was much bigger than my imagination had led it on to be. A spiraling staircase led up to the dormitories, and I climbed up them to pick a bed. Mine was the farthest to the door, and I found Darcy laying on it. I pet her dark fur and she purred contently. The other girls came up to the room. The only one I knew was Katie Bell. The other's I didn't although I made friends with one of them, along with Katie also. Her name was Margo and she had light brown hair.

We stayed up for a good few hours talking about how exciting it was to finally be coming to school. I talked about how my sister was in Ravenclaw and some of the girls were slightly shocked to find that I had a twin, and that we had been separated.

I wished slightly, that she could be in this dorm with me. But I suppose there was a reason to this too. And I knew I would most likely be seeing her tomorrow at some point. We both needed to reach out of our comfort zones anyway and this way was good as any other.

After a sufficient amount of time talking about school and our excitement the first of the girls decided to go to bed, and I did the same soon after. I cuddled under the blankets, which gave me the perfect amount of warmth and snuggled with my stuffed frog that I've had for ages. I was lucky enough that none of the girls made fun of me for it.

This was the start of our adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning from a very comfortable sleep. The Hogwarts beds were fantastic, soft, comfortable, and sporting the expected red and gold colors. Once Margo, Katie, and I were all up and ready we travelled to the Great Hall for breakfast before classes. Despite indecisive staircases and stubborn doors we found our way there fairly well, although I'm sure with more practice it could someday take less than half an hour time.

We sat down at the Gryffindor table and munched on our breakfast, not nearly as extravagant as the feast last night but still wonderful. I could get used to eating here every day. It was better than Dad's microwave dinners and take away. He wasn't much a cook, if we had anything with any flavor it was probably because Alison and I had made it.

I kept glancing towards the entrance to wait for Alison to come to breakfast from her Ravenclaw common room. But she took much longer than I to get ready, and she had a tendency to sleep in late. I hope she made friends though. I can't think of anyone off-hand who would be in her house and her year. This was an awfully character-deprived year to be set in.

As I was looking out to the entrance and having a mindless conversation with the girls, two red-heads sat on either side of me.

"Hello," they chirped in unison.

I snapped back and looked at the two of them. "Hello boys," I said, as I took another bite of my toast with strawberry jam.

Katie and Margo introduced themselves to the boys and they gave them their names, the correct ones surprising enough.

"What are you doing here?" I asked them.

"We tend to eat breakfast here," George said, acknowledging the food placed up and down the table. I rolled my eyes.

"I figured as much. Why are you conversing with us?"

"I'm shocked!" Fred exclaimed, shooting his hands up to cover his mouth.

"What would make you think we would not want to be here?" said George.

"You are our favorite first year, after all."

"The only girl we've ever met that can tell us apart fully."

"Not even our own mum can do that," said Fred.

"I feel so blessed," I said as I twisted around to look for Alison again, and saw her walk in with a girl with long, wavy, medium brown hair. I waved them both over to our table and George noticed and moved over so that Alison could sit next to me and her friend sat next to Katie.

"It truly is a huge accomplishment," George said as he moved.

"This is Alison," I announced her as she sat down with her friend and she waved shyly to our group. I pointed out each person to her, although she knew Fred and George. Red-headed identical twins didn't seem to be the most popular genetic around Hogwarts.

"Your twin can tell us apart," George said.

"Can you?" Fred finished.

Alison looked heated and on the spot. She must not be able to. She took a whack at it though, she had a fifty-fifty chance. She still managed to mess it up.

"Wrong," they both said at the same time. She cursed under her breath. Funnily enough, I even introduced her a few moments ago.

"How can you do it then?" Fred questioned me.

"Yeah, I thought you said it had to do with being a twin," George scolded. I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, shoving more food into my mouth.

"Well I guess I don't know then. I may just be the more talented twin," I said, and winked at Alison. She glared at me in return.

"That is not true," she said coldly, although she wasn't truly angry at me. I mean, probably not. She was an angrier individual than I after all.

Then, Alison introduced her new friend. Her name was Summer. She looked exactly as you would expect a Ravenclaw student to look. Her wavy hair was held back with a headband, her uniform was sorted very orderly on her body somehow and she even had a book with her sat on the table. But despite seeming like the perfect know-it-all she was actually quite funny and an interesting person to be around.

When Professor McGonagall started to come around with the timetables Alison and Summer left our table to receive theirs. Of course, I was with Katie and Margo in each class, and I noticed three throughout the week that I had with Ravenclaw: Charms, Transfiguration, and Astronomy.

Margo, Katie, and I left half an hour before classes started to collect our books for our classes. We had Defense Against the Dark Arts first with the Hufflepuffs.

I sat at a table with Margo, and Katie sat behind us with another girl in our dormitory. We were twisted around talking until the beginning of class started. The rest of the class become silent though, so we turned around and watched Professor Quirrel walk in and start to introduce the class to him.

He must have currently been in his pre-Voldy stage because he actually spoke with quite more confidence and barely stuttered. He did stutter slightly though, and I noticed some garlic hung around a little bit. Maybe there was a little bit of truth to those vampire rumors then.

After he discussed what we would be learning this year, he looked desperately around the class and sighed. "You all have about fifteen minutes left of class, why don't you, uh, talk amongst yourselves. Get acquainted and whatnot." He then turned around to sit at his desk and read through a book about the prevention of vampires.

Margo and I twisted around to talk to Katie again but then I noticed the boy sitting directly behind her. He had sandy hair, and clear blue eyes. I tapped Margo's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Do you know who the boy sitting behind Katie is?"

She glanced at him carefully and looked back to me. "Oh yes, that's Cormac McLaggen."

Oh great. I've read about him, and he didn't seem the most pleasant sort. But he _looked_ so pretty. He couldn't honestly be that bad. I looked at him one more time, and he looked over my direction at the same time. Embarrassing. I blushed, but he acknowledged me and waved at me. What do I do? Well I guess I have no other choice than to wave back. So I did. And that resulted in him coming over here. What? This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Hello," he said to the four of us, although the other girl wasn't really conversing with us really. She seemed to be in her own la-la land instead.

"Hi," I said, much more quickly and excitedly than Margo and Katie. They both looked at me like they knew something. But certainly there is nothing to know. They even giggled a bit, hiding it behind their hands.

"I'm Cormac," he said, with a little grin-smirk accompanying it after.

All three of us introduced ourselves and Cormac sprung into conversation about the game Quidditch, which he had spent the majority of the summer playing with his father apparently. I hung onto every word of it. Of course, simply because it was interesting hearing about the sport rather than reading about it; purely for this reason only.

"Quidditch is a great sport," I agreed with him, at some point of his monologue of a conversation. He gave me a confused sort of look.

"I thought you were a muggle-born though, Callie?"

"Oh, well I am, but I've heard much about it. It sounds fun is all." He nodded, and continued talking. My face flushed as soon as he looked away. Thankfully, the bell rang and we headed off to Transfiguration so I had time to calm down. Margo and Katie giggled at me through the halls, so I shoved both of them off, Katie almost bumping into a scary fourth year.

Since Alison was with me in my next class, Margo and Katie shared a table and I sat behind them with my twin. I didn't mention a thing about Cormac, and quite honestly I was afraid to tell her. Number five of our list of rules (No torturing unlikable characters) resulted in a small rampage from her about the arrogance of Cormac, even though he was such a minor character. She would not be too thrilled about this. Yes, it would be best not to tell her at all. She had some violent tendencies.

Transfiguration was easily an interesting class. Professor McGonagall entered as a tabby cat and turned into her normal self, resulting with a round of applause from our class. Although she was strict, she had a nice underside that was not easy to spot at first. But she wasn't mean to anyone. She also didn't seem nice either. But I knew, so that counted for something.

After that class, the lunch bell rang. I was thankful because I had been starving. Alison agreed that she and Summer would sit with us at our Gryffindor table again. Katie, Margo, Summer, Alison, and I sat down and Fred and George came to join us with Lee Jordan.

"Hello, ladies," George said, sliding in to sit with us.

"How is our favorite first years?" Fred asked.

"Fantastic," I answered, sounding slightly sarcastic, as I reached for a sandwich on a gleaming silver platter, and filled my goblet with pumpkin juice. I had never tried it before last night, and was surprised to find it enjoyable.

"None of you have had Snape yet, have you?" Fred asked. We all shook our heads.

"Well watch out," Lee warned. "Especially our fellow Gryffindors, he won't take a liking to any of you." I nodded my head. "The Ravenclaws will have it safer."

Fred, George, and Lee spent the rest of the lunch period telling horror stories of old Snape, which did not make me look forward to his classes any more. I knew he was an honorable person deep down, but that didn't stop me from being fearful and having a little dislike towards him. Alison, on the other hand, tells how she likes him. So I guess that's good for her. He will still scare the living daylights out of me, I predict.

Most of the stories Fred and George were telling though, it seemed like they started a bunch of it. Such as giving him a gift basket of shampoo, and setting off dungbombs around the dungeons in random locations. It's not a wonder that Snape hated them, but nonetheless, it was still quite funny.

Alison tried to stand up for him, claiming that he couldn't be _that_ bad, but Fred, George, and Lee just looked at her like she'd sprouted all three of Fluffy's slobbering heads. She stopped doing so afterwards.

"He's not the friendly sort, trust me Alison," George had warned her.

They then continued on with other stories of terrible stories, like Professor Binns, the boring, old teacher that was a ghost. Not a single soul could pay attention in his class, no matter if it was an interesting subject or not due to his monotonous, droning voice.

Then, to stories of the wacky Professor Trelawney, who predicted the death of a third year each year. None of the boys have had her yet, since they were all second years. But Lee claimed to have an encounter with her in the corridors once, said she was in a deep trance, ran straight into him and told him he was be injured by sundown. The only injury he had got was a bruise right where the witch had crashed into him. But, as Summer had pointed out, was therefore a correct prediction.

Although I knew of all these teachers, and most likely more than the boys, it was still funny and we laughed along with everything they said. This even seemed to please the boys as they all had huge grins on their faces.

But soon lunch had to come to an end, and Margo, Katie, and I went to face A History of Magic, warned to be the most boring lesson of our lives. Bring it on.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks into the school year I decided it was about time to tell Alison about this thing with Cormac McLaggen. I didn't want to encounter any situation where she found out in anyway other than directly from me. Even telling her myself would not be a pleasurable experience though.

I was to meet her at the entrance hall at eleven. Just as I was about to slip out the portrait hole, Fred called my name. "Callie!"

I whipped my head around and backtracked to see his body stumbling towards me. "Yes, Fred?"

"Where are you off too?"

"I'm meeting Alison. Did I need your permission for that Fred?"

"Course not," he mumbled. "I was only going to make sure you were going to watch George and I try out for the Quidditch team."

"I'll be there at two, no worries," I reassured him. "You'll be great, by the way. I must be going though. I'll see you!"

I waved to him and went out through the portrait hall to meet Alison.

Within twenty minutes I was there. I've been able to navigate through the castle much better recently although I'm still shocked that they just set us free here without a map. Who does that? We started with a walk through the grounds, it was particularly nice and sunny out still. We strolled past the Black Lake, one of my favorite places in Hogwarts. The other was the Astronomy Tower.

Alison started off our conversation quickly with a rant about a boy named Roger Davies. He was a second year at Ravenclaw and she met him the first night at the welcoming feast. She claimed him to be insufferably arrogant.

"So do you know what he did?" Alison asked me, hopefully about to finish off her story. I shook my head but I doubt that mattered. She was going for a dramatic pause, not a response. "He just completely ignored the prefect, and once he was gone he lectured about how he knows so much more than any old prefect, like he's such an intellectual! How ignorant is that?"

"Very. Very ignorant person that Roger. I agree." She seemed content with that. By the time we rounded the Black Lake and headed towards the courtyards she had calmed down.

"So how about you? Have you got anything to tell me?"

I blushed involuntarily. "I do, actually.

"Ooh," she said shrilly. "What is it then?"

"I'm just warning you now, you're not going to like it."

Her eyes narrowed at me, "Go on."

"Well, you see, I sort of, kind of, slightly, perhaps, may fancy Cormac McLaggen."

I had rushed it all out but by the furious expression on Alison's face she had heard every word of it. Honestly, if looks could kill I would be unconsciously strewn on the ground, with any pulse, her face was heating up and her hands were balling up at her sides.

"Like hell you do," she spat. She whipped out her wand from her pocket. In her anger, she took out an innocent, unsuspecting Hufflepuff's Transfiguration book and tried to send it at my face with the levitating charm we had just learned previously.

I ducked, and the book landed with a thud on the stone bench opposite of its owner. The frazzled girl grabbed her book quickly and ran from the scene of the crime. I don't blame her, I wish I had that option.

"_Allie!"_

"Don't you Allie me, Calista!" She said and jabbed her finger my way, nearly stabbing me in the nose. "How could you? Do you realize how—how stupid that boy is? He's a git! And incredible, stupendous, most git-like git known to all of the wizarding community!"

"Calm down," I hissed at her. Many people out were looking our way curiously.

"Don't you tell me to calm down," she said, shooting me a glare and therefore silencing me. "I'm going to tell Fred and George," she concluded, her arms crossing**. **She was obviously quite pleased with her decision.

"No! You can't! If you tell them, then the whole school will be bound to know," I cried.

"Exactly," she said. "Maybe that will make you rethink your idiotic decision."

"You do realize," I said slowly, "that most people around this school don't yet know the difference between you and me."

Alison's entire face fell and her body relaxed into a discouraged slump. She swore under her breath. "I hate my life," she claimed, looking up to the sky, most likely hoping for some upper being to save her from her misery. "I hate being a twin. Don't let _anyone_ know about this, or I will find you and throw you into the Black Lake with a full body bind curse on you, where the grindylows will devour you with their sharp, pointed fingers and will not be put off no matter how much you struggle. "

I only smirked at her threat, although it made me glad that I waited to be past the lake before I told her. "Not a problem," I said.

After a quick lunch in the Great Hall with Summer, she had seemed to calm down. She did, every so often, stare at Roger Davies and roll her eyes and stab something with her fork. I was grateful that it wasn't me. We said our farewells to Summer though half past one to start on our way to the Quidditch Field.

On our way there, she continued to rant about this boy. It made me feel that she was more interested in him than she would like to be.

"He's acts so haughty, but doesn't he know that he's almost completely irrelevant to the storyline and the saving of the entire wizarding world! He has only line, did you know? And all he says is, 'Absolutely right, like that! Yeah.'"

I was impressed that she actually remembered that. I did not question it though, I only managed to shush her before we entered the stadium.

We were able to get to the very top, leaving me out of breath, as no one else was really here. I was panting as I sat down though, so I was not expecting myself to play any sort of sports soon, Muggle or Wizarding. We just had flying lessons a little bit ago, and I wasn't the best at it. Katie had got it immediately, of course. She was also smiling proudly the entire time. It took Margo and I some more time.

They didn't seem to be worse than Alison's though, who claims she nearly toppled off her broom only a few feet off the ground and swore to never ride one ever again. Alison seemed bored at the boy's try-outs and complained while looking out at the field that she "wasn't even a bloody Gryffindor."

I shushed her as I watched the team out on the field. Charlie Weasley seemed to be directing them about, and perhaps telling off his brothers a few times it seemed like. Alison, was getting so bored she was jumping from one stand to the next, and ignored me as I told her to sit down.

She was impossible.

Katie and Margo were coming to watch the tryouts with us, and when they arrived Alison had sat down. Margo sat next to me and on the other side of Margo was Katie.

"Hello," they chimed, as they looked out to the field.

"When's this going to get started?" Margo asked.

"Better be soon," Alison muttered. Margo and Katie both looked curiously at my twin.

"Oh, don't mind her she's just being impatient." She glared at me but I chose to not notice. The two seemed content with this answer, and finally a few pairs of people started doing laps around the arena. It was anyone we knew immediately, I suppose the oldest would go first. Fred and George were a few of the youngest to be trying out.

When Fred and George finally did get the chance to take a spin around all four of us stood up to cheer, although Alison was a little half-hearted in doing so. I nudged her with my elbow, which also did not make her a happy camper.

While waiting for Fred and George to do some sort of something again, the four of us had fun discussions, which included a naked Oliver Wood posing for Witch Weekly somehow. This cheered up Alison and she was back to her normal self.

When Fred and George were back up in the sky again, they had their beater's bats, which looked a lot like stunted, wooden baseball bats. They zoomed throughout the sky with the bludger's released and seemed to be having a jolly time smacking it about with precision. I knew not only from the books, but from their show in front of us now, that they would be chosen as the beaters. They had such a chemistry together that no other person on the field would be able to beat.

One of them seemed to be coming right in our direction, and the four of us screamed as it got close. Fred came and hit it away before it could get us, and winked quickly before flying away. I don't know if I was the only one who caught that or not.

After a considerable amount of time the try outs seemed to be done and over with. Charlie was speaking to the team again, and although we could not hear a word of what they were saying I assumed that Fred and George got the job as beaters because, well first of all I already knew, and because they were jumping up and down and slapped each other's hands in a high five, pleased with their accomplishment.

A few of the other members gave them both a slap on the back. That's when the four of us collected our things and headed down to the ground. We tried to get there quickly in order to congratulate the twins. That was yet again, too much exercise for me.

Katie sighed on her way down. "I wish I could have tried out for the team."

"You'll be able to next year," I told her. "I bet you'd make it too."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," I said. "Did you see how quickly you got a hold on flying at the lessons? You're great!"

She blushed, and looked at the ground. "I've practiced before though."

"So has Margo, and she didn't do any better than I did." Margo snapped her head back when she heard her name, but when she deemed our conversation harmless she looked ahead again and continued her conversation about Transfiguration class with Alison.

I was slightly out of breath by the time that we got to ground although I tried not to show it. I did make a comment though, saying, "That's enough exercise until Christmas." The others snickered at me.

We found the two ginger twins come out of the locker room and we immediately bombarded them with our congratulations. I wished that I had confetti to throw at them.

They both beamed and thanked us, and even bowed. I rolled at my eyes because I made friends with two of the most idiotic people I could find at Hogwarts.

"Oh, stop, you're making us blush," George said.

"It was quite a feat though," said Fred.

"It took quite a bit of talent."

"And mind you, we even saved all of you from being clobbered by a bludger," Fred finished their twin banter.

"Oh, how heroic of you," I said, initially teasing him, and pretended to faint. Both of them smirked at me.

Alison parted to go meet Summer at their common room and the rest of us Gryffindors went to our own common room, where we had a small party for the twins. We managed to come up with a few packs of chocolate frogs, but that was it.

Fred and George shook their heads at our attempt. "We can get some real food," they claimed.

"How?" Katie asked.

"We know where the kitchens are," they said.

"That's not surprising. I bet I could find the kitchens, even," I countered.

They didn't look shocked, more bemused, and chuckled. "If you think you know, why don't you show us?"

"I will," I said, and started towards the portrait hole once again with Fred and George at my heels. They had turned shocked when I led them all throughout the castle and stopped at the portrait of the bowl of fruit.

"Here it is," I announced.

"Yeah, well do you know how to get in, miss?" George asked.

"Of course," I said, as I stood up on the top of my tip-toes and reached my arm high up to tickle the little green pear.

Fred and George mouths hung wide open as I climbed inside. They followed me in and as little house elves came our way Fred said, "You will never stop amazing me, Callie."


	5. Chapter 5

As the winter holiday approached, so did the mid-year exams, which were taking their toll on everyone. I was in a frenzy studying at whatever times I could, and meeting all my first year friends to study with. Alison and I did this constantly in the library, or around the castle, and part of our routine consisted of crying almost fifty percent of the time.

The last weekend before the exams I chose to stay and study in the warmth of the common room with my Potions notes. Potions seemed to be the worst for me. I wasn't even as bad at Potions as A History of Magic. Even though Professor Binns had a droning, monotonous old ghost-y voice I actually understood history well. Potions was just something else.

Two of the people who the pressure did not affect though, Fred and George Weasley of course, were prodding me as I was trying to concentrate.

"What do you want?" I snapped at them eventually.

"We've decided that you need a well-deserved break," George announced, his hands clamped together as he looked down at me in the plush, burgundy arm chair.

"Don't have time for a break," I said, as I skimmed through more of my notes, memorized potions and ingredients and stirring techniques.

Fred snapped the parchment out of my hands, holding it high and out of my reach. "Oi!" I said, jumping out of my chair and jumping up and down to get them back.

"You will get these back after you have a break," he said, waving them high above my head.

I rested my hand on my waist as I looked scathingly at one to the other. "Who are the two of you to decide if I need a break?"

"Your friends," George said.

"Who are concerned for your health, Cal," said Fred. He hooked his arm into mine and started dragging me to the swirling staircase, tugged me up the steps, and pushed me up to the girl dormitories. "Go get many layer's on, we're going outside."

I begrudgingly trudged up the rest of the steps grumbling as I pushed on sweaters and scarves and cloaks on.

I walked to the library that way, knowing that is where Alison would be. I found her, feeling a bit puffy in my warm get-up. She looked at my warm attire questionably and so I told her the twin's plan. She wasn't happy at first to leave behind her work, she was even more stressed than me. I don't see why, she is a _Ravenclaw_ after all. She was bound to do fine. But I followed her to her common room door, although curious I didn't want to intrude into Ravenclaw turf. She came back bulging just as much as I and the two of us went out to meet Fred and George in the court yard, who were already flinging balls of snow at each other. I shouldn't have been shocked when one went right for me immediately.

This began the start of an unannounced war. Alison and I ran away quickly, hiding behind stone benches to start a supply of snowballs and then aiming them at one of the red-haired twins. They attacked our fort and Alison and I ran away from then as the icy snow hit us, and uncomfortably slid between the cracks in our clothing. As I was running, I tried to throw the snowball I had behind me at one of the twins. It only just swiped on of their ears and they laughed at my weak attempt, I'm sure.

I ran around the courtyard trying to avoid the flying spheres of snow that Fred and George threw with much more precision. As I slipped on an unexpected patch of ice, caught off guard, I flailed my arms around in the air before falling straight onto my arse. Unfortunately for me, Fred and George saw my moment of clumsiness and dropped their snowballs, opting to laugh at my expense instead. "This is not funny," I protested, whipping a piece of blonde, snow-ridden hair out of my face and pouted. My adorable pout received no sympathy from the pair.

"It was brilliant, actually," Fred concluded.

"Made my day," George agreed, looking at her twin and nodding. I continued with my pout , but even Alison was finding extreme humor in this situation. Alison settled her giggles and straightened from her crunched, laughing position.

"Let's do something else," she suggested, the previous laughing episode still apparent on her facial features.

I got up from my position on the hard, snow-covered ground and wiped big clumps of snow off of me. "What would you like to do?" I asked, bitter that not one of them had an ounce of sympathy for me.

"Let's make a snowman," Alison said giddily and ran into a fresh patch of snow, Fred and George following behind her as she started rolling a small ball of snow for a part of the snowman's body. George joined her in rolling that one about and Fred started another one that I begrudgingly helped him with. George and Alison soon enough had a large enough clumpy ball of snow to make for the bottom and me and Fred rolled ours over to join theirs as the abdomen of the man. We lifted it together and stuck it on, and made sure it was balanced and not about to topple over.

George and Allison quickly out together the smallest piece to add on as the head of the thing. Then we split to find parts for the facial features. Alison and I grabbed the essentials. We had stones for the eyes that we found around the lake, and transfigured others to make the buttons. I'm sad to admit that they were ugly, disfigured buttons but buttons nonetheless. We found a wire for a smile, a half-eaten pretzel stick for the nose and we even dug through the snow to find some frozen grass to add as eyebrows.

We met them both back at the snowman and we got to work to making up his face with the eyes, wires, and wasted pretzel. As I was to put on the eyebrows the twins swiped them from me. They arranged the eyebrows in such a way that it made him have an angry expression, and twisted the wire into a thin, straight line as opposed to the curved smile we had made.

"What are you doing to it? You've destroyed the jolly, happy soul," Alison cried.

George stuck the stick arms in as Fred plopped a leafy, dead, plant on his head for hair. They both got behind the snow fellow to present him in a ta-da fashion. "It's Snape!" they declared. And once you looked at it like that it looked remarkably similar to Snape and once we both made that realization we both doubled over in laughter.

"That's perfect," I spoke out through my fit of laughter. My stomach was cramping up, I was trying to control the tears coming to my eyes and I was probably going to end up in the snow from laughing so hard. Fred and George couldn't help but laugh at their own creation.

Once we started to settle down, laugh again, and then settle down for real George said, "I have an idea!" When one of the twins announced they had an idea it didn't go as planned, and ended badly for everyone involved. Alison and I groaned.

"What's your idea?" I asked reluctantly.

"Let's put this beauty in Snape's classroom," Fred said.

"Let's not," Alison argued immediately.

"It's a brilliant laugh, all of the students will love us," George defended their idea.

Alison and I both answered with another, "No."

"It will melt anyway," I reminded them, smugly feeling as if I had won the argument.

"We can produce a freezing charm," Fred countered my smug remarked very alike to mine. I sighed hugely, relaxed my arms from crossed over my chest and the next thing I knew I was following behind two red-headed troublemakers levitating a character snowman through the corridors, jumping at anything that was similar to the clacking of someone's footsteps.

My heart pounded in my chest, the adrenaline ran through my body in such a way I wanted to turn over and puke. But I didn't want to be the kid that complained and moaned about the risky thing the entire time. What was a Gryffindor but brave and a risk-taker after all? The Ravenclaw though, she was that kid.

"I have a bad feeling," she whispered in a sing-song tone.

"Oh, hush," George said, shooing her off as he kept his wand out and focused on the snowman. "We're nearly to the dungeons after all, Alison." I saw her roll her eyes and flip her hair.

We rounded the corner into the dungeon, so close to our destination, and off course we stumbled into no one other than Severus Snape, the snowman flopped down crashing into him but in the aftermath it still managed to look just like Snape. He took several furious glances to us and to Snow Snape as he stood up, and said nothing but, "Detention, all of you, seven tonight in my office." All of us groaned and Alison spoke up, after giving all of us that 'I-told-you-so' glance.

"But professor, I really—"

"I really don't want to hear it, Carraway. I will see all four of you tonight. And clean up this mess here." He turned swiftly away while Alison and I glared our meanest eagle eye at Fred and George. Who tried to convey the most innocent faces they could muster as Fred said, "Oops."

Alison and I proceeded to hit and kick them with all our might, George looked at us and said, "Are we supposed to act as if you're hurting us right now?"

"We are hurting you," Alison insisted as she threw another punch for his arm.

"Actually we aren't being hurt at all," Fred said. We both glared at him.

"Er, I mean, ow—ow stop that I'm so wounded I must be brought to the hospital wing immediately," said Fred.

"That's right," I said, finishing my spur of violence and crossing my hands over my chest to continue with my glaring, which is obviously what I did better of the two.

"My first detention," Alison moaned, as she sunk to the ground and let her head in her hands.

"If it makes you feel better, we had our first detention within the first week of school," George said, referring to him and Fred.

"But you're you," I pointed out, "and we, especially Alison, aren't troublesome, mischief-seeking idiots. I mean we love you both so much, but you are troublesome morons."

"We'll change you into that in no-time, I promise," Fred said. Alison made a disgusted noise from the ground where she was still crouched. George went to comfort her as he patted her back and combed her hair but she swatted him away while keeping her head in one hand.

"I am upset," Alison stated.

"We've realized. We're awfully sorry we never meant for this to happen," Fred said.

"It will probably happen again," George said, sharing a nod with his brother.

"But we'll never mean for it to happen again. Promise."

The detention later that evening with Snape was dreadful. He had us in his office scrubbing cauldrons. Snape was occupying his office nearly the entire time, so there was no shushed talking and the most we could do were sideways glances to each other when he wasn't looking.

Snape kept us there for nearly two hours, scrubbing away. I swear at least seventy five percent of the marks on these were completely permanent. My fingers were wrinkling up from the water and soup and an annoying, stray strand of hair kept flying right into my face.

Snape glanced at the clock and in a whispering tone murmured, "You may leave."

All four of us immediately dropped our cleaning utensils and got out of there as quick as we could. Alison reminded Fred and George again of how upset she was with them and how now she was never going to pass her exams. This also included her throwing her arms up in the air with quick hand motions.

"Don't worry so much. You'll pass just fine," George commented lazily. She just huffed in turn, crossing her arms. We parted ways with her soon as she went up to the Ravenclaw tower. Fred, George, and I took the walk all the way up to the Gryffindor tower.

"Now see, that wasn't so bad now was it?" George asked me patting me on the back.

"I'm still not happy about it," I said.

"It will be a good memory to look back on one day," said Fred.

"You better hope so," I said bitterly.

"Don't worry, this won't be the last," said Fred. "We still have many more adventures to go on together."

"I'm thrilled."


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the unexpected detention with Snape that chilly afternoon Alison and I passed all of our exams with flying colors. Fred and George on the other hand did well enough that they didn't fail completely, but bad enough that Mrs. Weasley sent them both an angry letter.

Now the Christmas and Easter holidays are over and done with and with that came the end of the Quidditch season. Fred and George were hyped up as Gryffindor is in for the cup this year, and what's better than a gold and shiny piece of plastic? They were basically hopping around the common room all morning and once we got to breakfast I had to reprimand them several times.

"Calm down, boys," I snapped as Fred was so busy chattering he spilled orange juice right down the front of his shirt. I grabbed a handful of napkins and dabbed at his shirt.

"Whoops," he said, looking down watching me clean off his shirt. "I'm so excited though, Cal! We have our chance at the cup!"

"I'm sure Gryffindor will even have a good shot at least one more time while you're here too. " In approximately three years, to be exact.

"But this is the _first_ time. You are coming, aren't you?"

"I always come," I reminded him. There was nothing better than a good, old Quidditch match. Except for maybe a baseball game, but I spent several years convinced that Quidditch was completely fiction so it's more exciting than an American ball game.

"I was just checking," he said.

George elbowed Fred in his ribs, and pointed to his watch. "It's nearly ten, Fred. Charlie wanted to get a warm-up practice in before the game."

"Right," Fred said as he shoved a few more strips of bacon into his mouth. "Let's go," he said, through his mouthfuls of bacon so that it was nearly inaudible. They got up and started jogging away, waving at me as they went.

I shook my head and waved goodbye to the twins. As soon as they left Margo occupied their seats and greeted me with and excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"You'll never guess who has been looking your way," she shrilled.

"Who?"

"Don't look," she warned, "but Cormac McLaggen." It was in my natural instinct to automatically look. It proved that he was in fact looking in the general direction of me, but as soon as he noticed that I was looking back he turned his head away shyly. Margo slapped my thigh, dragging my attention back to our conversation.

"What?"

"I told you not to look," she hissed.

"Well what did you expect me to do?"

"I expected you to not look like I instructed!"

Amidst our bickering, Cormac came and plopped down in the seat across from me, which stopped me as I was about to slap Margo with a slice of bacon.

"Hi Margo, hi Callie," he greeted us with this completely adorable half-smile.

"Hello," I said slowly as I gently put down the piece of bacon. Margo began giggling so I kicked her in the shins. She moaned but then shut up. Directly behind Comac, I could see Alison glaring at us from the Ravenclaw table. She still wasn't happy about the entire ordeal. I saw her begin to march this way.

"So, um, Callie," Cormac began so I tore my eyes away from my angry twin who was increasingly getting closer and closer.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, did you want to, um," he stuttered. Stuttering was not good before the arrival time of an angry Alison. My heartbeat quickened. Hurry it up boy!

"Do you want to go to the quidditch match with me?" I let out a breath, as Alison was not to us yet.

"Yeah," I said. Then I realized how dorky and simple that was I tacked on, "Um, I'd love to." I probably could have done with the stuttering but it was the best that I could muster.

"Good," he said, doing that half smile thing again. "I'll see you then," he said and got up to leave seconds before Alison arrived.

Alison banged her fists on the table. "What was that? What happened here?"

"Nothing," I lied quickly, although the smile I couldn't keep away ruined it all. I was a terrible liar anyway.

"Calista Jane," she snapped, her face menacing and only inches from mine. If I wasn't so happy I would have trembled.

"Fine," I said, leaning back away from her face. "He asked me to go to the match with him."

"And you said?"

"Yes, of course!"

She swore under her breath, and looked me straight in the eyes. "I am very disappointed in you." She stormed away and out of the great hall.

"Why does she even hate Cormac so much?" Margo asked as she took my bacon, from my plate, the piece that I was originally going to slap her with.

"It's a difficult situation. Why did you take my food?"

"I wanted it."

"But it's mine."

"I don't care."

"Don't do this to me again."

"I can't promise you anything."

"I hate you, I really do."

Margo and Alicia helped me get all ready to be at the match with Cormac later that afternoon. They decided my attire and my hair. I had completely no say in the entire shindig apparently. I was entirely capable of doing all these things myself, thank you very much!

They decided it was best that I just shower so that my hair would be wavy. It already was wavy and I had already showered but they completely insisted that I must shower again. And once I did they had me thrown into an outfit, which was nothing more than a Gryffindor shirt and jeans but I guess I should just let them have their fun.

They deemed me perfectly good and ready half an hour before the match was to begin and therefore we decided to get on our way to the pitch. Cormac said that he would meet me there before the game.

I was secretly on edge the entire time, trying desperately to avoid certain people, especially twins. Whether it be my twin, or Fred and George coming out of the locker room. Cormac was there waiting for me, just as he said he would though. Margo and Katie giggled before leaving me to encounter him by myself. I smiled as I greeted him. "Hey," I said.

"Hello Callie, how's it going?" He said, attempting to start up his small talk. But I saw Alison's friend Summer around the corner so I hurried it up.

"I'm fine. How about we go up to the stands now? I have a good spot." I dragged him along from under the stands through the stair case, and so I would not be followed I took many twists and turns, changing directions, and going up and down and up and down before I decided on the perfect spot, not where I would usually sit. It was at the tip top of the bleachers, in a little nook so it was particularly hard to see who exactly was sitting there.

"This is your good spot?" he asked uncertainly.

"That it is," I said, plopping down on a wobbly bench. Good thing I was light. He sat down next to me wearily. But I was certain Alison and none of her Ravenclaw gang would find us here. I was now content to watch the game with Cormac as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams rose into the air. I was torn between watching my two best friends play Quidditch and talking to Cormac. As it turns out, having a date to a Quidditch game was very distracting. They wanted you to like talk to them. I thought he was into quidditch, why aren't you watching the bloody game?

I practically knew the outcome of the game though, so I watched Gryffindor score once more, cheer very loudly, and then turn to conversation with Cormac while I had my eyes flicking to the field every once and a while. If I missed something Fred and George did it would kill me.

As we were on the discussion of how _he _couldn't wait to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, exactly the person I didn't want to show up did.

"There you are!" Alison cried, sitting down in front of me and Cormac. "I had been looking all over for you. Hello Cormac," she slipped in slyly, and not with the most cheerfulness.

"Hello, Alison," I said unhappily.

"Well, I was just thinking that, you know, we need to go study."

"Alison, it's the last Quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor is in for the cup," I reminded her.

"But we always need to study, the final exams are going to be here soon!"

"Your sister is in Ravenclaw, isn't she?" Cormac questioned.

"_My name _is Alison. And yes, I am, you dumb Gryffindor."

"You're sister's in Gryffindor, and you think all Gryffindor's are dumb?"

"All the more reason," she replied. I would have retorted under normal circumstances but I could feel this date, or whatever it was, slipping down the drain faster and faster by the second. I stared ahead to the field, watching the game and tried my best to ignore the discomfort of my situation. Gryffindor was beating Ravenclaw at the moment, although it was very close. I was just hoping Charlie would find the snitch soon so I could get out of this situation as soon as possible and go back to the common room to celebrate our spectacular victory.

"Say, Callie, would you help me go find Summer?"

"No," I answered. She pouted but I kept my attention straight on to the field, mainly paying attention to Fred and George, jollily hitting the bludger around.

"But why not?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see her pouting face.

"I'm sure none of your friends will be so accepting of a Gryffindor at the moment."

"But you two are accepting of me and I'm a Ravenclaw," she said.

"Not what I would say a_ccepting_," I muttered. But Alison heard, she always heard. She chose to just turn away and ignore me. I couldn't take any more of this honestly. Cormac seems annoyed beyond belief and Alison knew and she was proud of that. I was about to leave when I saw on the field, Charlie Weasley leaning down on his broom, in a race with the Ravenclaw seeker, arms outreached to catch that glint of gold. And Charlie caught it.

I jumped up and cheered and clapped and yelled for Charlie and Gryffindor and my mood changed from grumpy to happy. Alison on the other hand had the exact opposite effect and moped away back to her Ravenclaws, although she knew exactly the outcome of this game. "Stupid Gryffindors," she mumbled.

After cheering loudly for the team, I collapsed back onto the bench as other people exited the stands. Those wobbly benches though, chose to break right at that moment as I was sitting with Cormac.

The girls tried to comfort me in the common room after I relayed the horribly embarrassing story to them, involving my twin and the broken bleachers.

"It's not as bad as you think," Margo insisted. We were waiting in the common room waiting for the party to start. All I really wanted though, was my sweatpants and maybe some pasta.

"He's never going to talk to me again," I moaned. He was avoiding me on the other side of the common room.

"Who's never going to talk to you again?" George asked as he and Fred appeared by me. Just what I need.

I was about to reply nonchalantly but Katie piped up, "Cormac." Margo and I glared at her. "Oh. Was I not supposed to say anything?"

"Why exactly is Cormac not talking to you a bad thing?" Fred asked. "He's a bloody self-absorbed git."

Fred's insults did nothing to make me feel better.

"They went on a date today," Katie blurt out again. I glared at her.

"You know, you are great, Katie," I said sarcastically.

"I—I'm sorry," she said and blushed.

Fred and George began singing though about me having gone on a date. "Shut up, shut up, shut up," I hissed while slapping their arms. "It went horribly."

"What do you consider horrible?" George asked, he and Fred had both crouched down to my level, propping their hands under the chin, considerably intent on hearing about my romantic misadventures.

"Well it ended with me breaking the bench."

"That just means you need to lose some weight," George said cheerily, pinching my side. I wriggled away from him, leaning towards Fred, who in turn tugged at my cheek. I swatted him away.

"No, I don't need to lose weight. I need pasta," I said gloomily. "Someone get me pasta."

"I'll get you pasta if you promise to accompany me," Fred said, jumping up and holding out his hand to me.

"That's so much walking," I complained.

"Do you want food?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes."

"Follow me," he smiled, his hand still outstretched, I took it and he nearly pulled my arm out dragging me out of the common room.

"Fred, stop that," I said, wriggling my arm out of his grasp and shaking it out once it was.

"Sorry Cal," he said shrugging as he led the way to the kitchens. It was mainly a silent walk. I couldn't yet decide if it was awkward or comfortable.

Fred brought up conversation to end the silence. "So why don't you tell me all about this little date of yours, Calista?"

"It wasn't a date," I mumbled. I wanted it to be a date, but I wouldn't admit that to Fred. Even if it was a date though, it was a terrible one.

"Well, whatever you called it. What went so badly?"

I was glad that he was asking because I wanted to talk about it, but I didn't like talking about these things because I didn't want to seem to be so wrapped up and worried about all the bad things that happen to me.

I started off telling him the entire story with painful detail and waving of arms and hand motions. And despite the Fred I know and unreasonably love, he patiently listened to all of it. Right from the point of him and George leaving to practice, Alison angrily marching towards me and bombarding the entire thing, and breaking the rickety bench in the invisible corner of the stands. The entire talk took up the fifteen minute walk we had to the kitchens, and after my story I found myself in front of the big picture of the bowl of fruit.

I looked up at the pear, my eyes of Fred as he tickled the pear and the door opened. We walked into the kitchens the same way Dorothy plopped down into the sea of munchkins, save the dead witch part. They were all about as tall as my thigh, and busy everywhere. Some of them were cooking and others were cleaning. But once they noticed us they all surrounded us instead. When they did this Fred grinned, I think it made him feel powerful.

"What can we get you Master Fred and Master Callie?" one squeaked. It was Specks, our usual house elf, the best of the crop I suppose, although I couldn't wait to meet Dobby in a few years.

"Callie here would like some pasta? You got anything for us Specks?"

"Specks does! Specks does!" He said cheerily. "Specks can get you spaghetti or lasagna or alfredo or rigatoni," he listed.

"All of them. I just want all of them," I said. He didn't question it or give it a second thought before rushing away, and getting three or four others to help whip it up.

While we waited, Fred and I sat on the white, linoleum kitchen floors and got involved in a massive thumb war. As it turns out, this wasn't my strong suit and Fred won every time.

"How about you just let me win this time?" I whined.

"Not a chance, Callie," he smirked. Specks showed up with disposable bowls filled to the brim with pasta and handed it to us with a huge smile on his face.

"Thank you for your service, Specks. It was very much appreciated," said Fred. Specks nodded eagerly as Fred and I turned to leave.

As it turns out, Fred and I didn't return to the common room immediately. Instead we found ourselves in the astronomy tower, one of my favorite places in the castle. We had the pasta sprawled out in front of us and Fred transfigured two old quills into awkwardly shaped forks. But they were eating utensils nonetheless.

I dove into my pasta. And I suppose pasta could be my alcohol because I was talking about everything I would have tried to hide from Fred earlier. I didn't even consider that he would tell George either. Who cares if he found out anyway? This Cormac thing has went to shit completely.

I told him about Alison's complete hatred for him since day one, since before I really fancied him or she was ever properly introduced to him. And how I'd been hoping all year and how I had my one chance and just completely blew it. I talked several times with my mouth full and sometimes I would say sorry quickly after chewing and swallowing as I repeated my sentence.

As I was done, with both my rant and the pasta, he finally spoke. I wondered to myself why I didn't tell him sooner because I believe this is going better than I initially thought. He wasn't judging me or yelling it down the halls, so far at least. He was a good confident it turns out and I felt better. Sure I had Margo and Katie, but they giggled and gave me false confidence. Alison hated his guts. Fred was patient and listened.

"Honestly, you don't need that bloke. Who cares about him if he does decided to never talk to you? You have six more years of Hogwarts. You have your friends, you have me. You don't know what could happen in those next years."

I scoffed because I did. And I looked at him, and I thought about things I promised myself I wouldn't since day one. Things that involved an exploding wall and '_the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.' _

But no, he was still in front of me, alive and breathing. I shook the thought from my head. I had him now, I should just take every moment I have. But I knew that if there was one person to save through all of this I knew who it was.

I had to get my mind off this. "Hey, we're probably missing the insane party. Let's get back to the common room."

Fred agreed and we both sat up, grabbing our containers as not to litter.

"You know you're a pretty wicked girl, Cal. Really wicked."

I smiled. "Thanks, Fred. I'm so lucky to have you."


End file.
